The present invention generally relates to an image forming arrangement and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying apparatus or the like arranged to effect control, for example, based on data memorized in an IC card, etc.
It has been a recent trend that an image forming apparatus e.g. a copying apparatus is provided with various functions such as continuous page copying, duplex copying, color copying anamorphic magnification copying, image editing copying, or the like. Following such a tendency, operation of the copying apparatus has been complicated, thus making it necessary to set various copying conditions, for example, to select a desired mode from various modes or to set various numerical values, through operation of many input keys provided on the surface of a control panel.
In order to cope with the complication of the operation as described above, there has been proposed a copying apparatus so arranged that data for desired copying conditions are preliminarily stored in a memory medium e.g. a non-volatile memory, IC card or the like in the copying apparatus, so as to be read out from the memory medium during copying for being loaded in a working area of an internal memory device.
In the known arrangement as referred to above, however, when data for only one kind of mode is stored in such memory medium, the loading may be readily effected, but if data of a plurality of modes are stored therein, it becomes necessary to provide a measure for enabling selection of a desired mode from the data of the plurality of modes.
For the purpose as referred to above, there may be considered a practice, for example, to provide key switches by the number for the kinds of the modes stored in the memory medium, thereby to load the data of a predetermined mode through depression of the key switch equivalent thereto. In such a practice, however, not only are many key switches required, thus complicating the surface arrangement of the control panel, but cost increase is undesirably involved.